We’re living in times where our world seems more tumultuous and scary than before, as different megapowers of the earth are at war, while others are ‘showing their teeth’. Isaiah’s day was no different, just the names of the earthly megapowers in 8th-6th BC are different from the 21st Century ones.
The threat and menace of Assyria (and the fear they put into the people’s hearts) was the context into which Isaiah was ministering. He was calling God’s people to trust him, avoid alliances with other nations, to remember that God alone is holy and sovereign over all nations, and to remain faithful to him under pressure – faithfulness that demonstrates itself in justice and righteousness in daily life.
Who was Isaiah?
Isaiah means ‘Yahweh is salvation’. He prophesied for at least forty years (Isaiah 1:1) from about 740BC; the year king Uzziah died (Isaiah 6:1), during the reigns of Jotham and Ahaz; until some point after the siege of Jerusalem (701BC) in the time of King Hezekiah (Isaiah 36:1). He prophesied to the southern kingdom of Judah, and particularly to the city of Jerusalem.
The backdrop to Isaiah 1-39 is the threat of the Assyrian invasion – an aggressive and cruel empire; who didn’t just want plunder, but wanted to establish their king, build their empire, repopulate the places they have conquered and punish severely anyone who rebelled. It was a scary time to be living in the small and insignificant kingdom of Judah and in the militarily weak city of Jerusalem. All of the other nations were forming alliances to try to strengthen their defences, or running to Egypt for help. Isaiah called upon the kings and people of Jerusalem to demonstrate a quiet and trusting faith in God, rather than form desperate alliances in an attempt to secure their future. He gave the people a vision of the city of Jerusalem that was far greater than the current reality they experienced, and called them to be part of God’s purposes to build it.
Key themes of Isaiah that are important for us today
Here are some themes Isaiah raises that we will reflect on in our series:
a. God’s holiness and sovereign rule of God over history.
Isaiah’s favourite term for God is ‘the holy one of Israel’. It is used over 20 times in the book (e.g Isaiah 5:19, 24.) When Isaiah has his vision of God the seraphim are calling out:
‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty, the whole earth is full of his glory.’ (Isaiah 6:3)
God is holy in that he is both completely pure and perfect, and therefore utterly set apart and unique. There is no-one else like him in purity, power, glory and splendour. All other kings and kingdoms are only pretenders to his throne and it is foolish to be proud and assert oneself in God’s place – only he is ‘high and lifted up’ (see Isaiah 2:12-13 and Isaiah 6:1).
In contrast to all earthly pretenders, God is the only king with total power and authority. The earthly rulers may throw their weight around for a while, but will eventually get tired and soon to be gone, only for another kingdom to rise and then fall – in Isaiah’s day that was firstly Assyria, then Babylon and then Persia, with Egypt always in the background. Only God’s kingdom, and God’s city of Jerusalem, would outlast all other kingdoms and cities, and he is at work in all the events of history to bring this about.
Much of our modern understanding of God is focused on his ‘immanence’ (he is close, like a friend) rather than his ‘transcendence’ (he is great, like a king). As Christians we must hold these two together if we’re to know the God revealed most truly in Jesus (see John 12:41 – Isaiah’s vision in chapter 6 was of Jesus).
b. A tale of two cities – the faithless city and the faithful city (the earthly city and the eternal city)
Chapter 1 opens with a lament of Isaiah:
“See how the faithful city has become a prostitute! She once was full of justice; righteousness used to dwell in her – but now murderers!…” (Isaiah 1.21)
But Isaiah says that after a time of pruning and disciplining (the judgement of exile) a remnant will return and one day a new glorious city will emerge. He goes on to say:
“I will turn my hand against you; I will thoroughly purge away your dross
and remove all your impurities. I will restore your leaders as in days of old, your rulers as at the beginning. Afterwards you will be called the City of Righteousness, the Faithful City.” (Isaiah 1.26-27)
How does the faithless city become the faithful city again? That is what the book of Isaiah is all about – God winning back his people’s hearts, making them righteous again, and shining his light through them that the nations would come to know God too. Ultimately God himself will have to ‘achieve salvation’ himself (Isaiah 59:16 and 63:5) as he comes as a suffering servant (Isaiah 53) to pay the price for the people’s sins.
Isaiah 2:1-5 famously talks about a day when all the nations will stream into Jerusalem to worship Israel’s God, all weapons of war will be turned to tools for farming and God’s law will be obeyed by all. It is a city where Egyptian and Assyrian will worship and be included among God’s inheritance (Isaiah 19:23-25). God’s people will one day ‘rise and shine’ and all the nations will come with their gifts to worship ‘The Holy One of Israel’ (Isaiah 60).
So for us, the church – we are now the ‘city of God’ (Matthew 5:14, Hebrews 12:22) and part of ‘the Jerusalem above’ (see Galatians 4:24-27, quoting Isaiah 54:1). We are called to remain faithful to God; ‘being holy like he is holy’ (1 Peter 1:16); acting in righteousness and justice, which will like a shine a light drawing others to know God (see 1 Peter 2:4-12); as we look forward to the city ‘with foundations, whose architect and builder is God’ (Hebrews 11:10 and 13:14)
c. Trust in God – wait on him
God’s people must learn to ‘walk by faith, not by sight’ and trust that God really is in control and not panic. Trust means to not give in to fear and frenzied action but remember that God is holy, sovereign over all earthly empires, and building an eternal city. This is the specific exhortation of the book of Isaiah – then and now. Who will we trust – earthly powers or God?
Ahaz (chapter 7) failed in that challenge and formed an anti-Assyrian alliance with Syria and Israel. Hezekiah (chapters 36-38) initially trusted God (and didn’t go down to Egypt for help), and saw an amazing answer to prayer as Jerusalem was miraculously delivered from the Assyrian siege and onslaught (Isaiah 37:36-38). Later however, even he oscillated and sought the favour of Babylon (Isaiah 38-39).
Derek Kidner describes Isaiah 30:15 as the unique message and challenge of Isaiah:
“This is what the Sovereign Lord, the Holy One of Israel, says:
‘In repentance and rest is your salvation,
in quietness and trust is your strength,
but you would have none of it.’”
The question for us today is – who will we trust when the present becomes scary and the future becomes uncertain? How will we respond when the pressure builds? Will we wait on the Lord, trust his timing and power, or will we panic, and rush to human-led solutions that are independent of God?
Isaiah and Jesus
We remember that all of the Old Testament is ultimately not about us, but about Jesus (see John 5:39-40, Luke 24:27, 44-45). The New Testament contains about 20 citations to Isaiah, including the famous prophecies of Jesus in chapters 7 (Immanuel – God with us), 9 (to us a child is born) and 53 (the suffering servant).
Jesus is the true Isaiah (The Lord is Salvation) coming to us to save us from our unfaithfulness. He is the one ‘high and lifted up’, the holy one of Israel that we are called to trust as king of kings (see John 12:41 and Rev 1:9-18). He is the true ‘city of God’ – the place where God dwells, who is drawing all the nations to worship him. He is the one who – even when he was being judged in our place, to make us holy – did not give in to fear and trusted God till the end (Luke 23:46 – Father, into your hands I commit my spirit). And he will come again to bring heaven to earth to form an enduring city (the New Jerusalem), which will be for the healing of all the nations (see Rev 21:1-5 and 22:2-5).
Our preaching series (March – May 2026)
In two sections over two years we’re going to be preaching through the book of Isaiah (chapters 1-39 this year, chapters 40-66 next year). Here is what the next few months will look like:
- 22 March: Isaiah 1:18-2:5 – A tale of two cities
- 29 March: Isaiah 6 – The calling of Isaiah
- 3 April: Isaiah 53 – The suffering servant (Good Friday)
- 5 April: Isaiah 25:1-12 – “He will swallow up death forever” (Easter Sunday)
- 12 April: Isaiah 7 – Immanuel
- 19 April: Isaiah 10:33-11:9 – The stump of Jesse
- 26 April: Isaiah 12:1-6 – The joy of salvation
- 3 May: Isaiah 14:3-17 & v26-27 & v32 – The fall of Babylon’s King
- 10 May: Isaiah 21:1-10 – The fall of Babylon
- 17 May: Isaiah 30:1-22 – In quietness and trust is your strength
- 24 May: Isaiah 37:1-20 – In whom will you trust?
Please join us at either of our three congregations, and midweek in City Groups as we study this magnificent book.